Control Valve Repair Made Easy
Most repairs and parts replacements can be done in less than 30 minutes with basic hand tools.
How to repair, trouble shoot, upgrade, rebuild, or replace a water softener or water filtration system.
Frequently asked questions addressed.

Monday, January 14, 2008

How to Set Meter without the People or Hardness Labels on Fleck Econominder Valves

Andrew,

Thank you for the very prompt shipping of my Fleck 5600 Econominder Controller. I've purchased two items from you and both times the shipping has been excellent.

I have a question though. As you can see in the attached photo the old controller had a "People Dial" and a "Water Hardness Dial". I used that to set my controller (e.g. I have 3 people here and the hardness is about 15). The new controller does not have either.

What is the appropriate way to set this controller given my prior settings at 3 people and a hardness of about 15?

Thank you,

Mike S. Mesa, AZ

*** Great Question:
We do not use the People and Hardness Labels on our replacement Econominder Valves and Power Heads, because they are tank specific. For example, the one in the photo is made for a Resin Capacity of 24,000 ( 24K CAP ), and would be incorrect to use on any other size resin tank. To avoid getting the wrong label ( and they do not come in "all sizes", only 2 or 3 ), we do not use any labels. In your case, you could set the "white" dot to the number 14, to match how your old valve was set. If you have a common One Cu.Ft. system ( usually a 9 x 48 resin tank ), then this is about where you want to be set, as your "working" capacity is about 1,600 gallons.

Here is how to figure meter settings,

The setting ( each digit equals 100 gallons ) on the 5600 meter determines how much water is used before a regeneration is run ( at 2 a.m. ).
It does not regenerate every night, but only as water usage dictates the need.

To compute the proper setting of the program meter wheel ( dial on the front of control ), you must know your hardness ( & iron level, if any ).
You also must know the capacity of your resin tank.
The average size resin tank is 9" x 48" and holds one cubic foot of resin. Resin has a maximum capacity of 32,000 grains removal ( when regenerated with about 18 lbs. of salt ).
Softeners should be sized and set to work at 75% capacity ( which requires half as much salt ).
With the capacity and the hardness level known ( add 3 grains hardness for each ppm of iron present in the water ), you are ready to set your program wheel.

Computing Gallon Setting

Take the grains capacity of your resin tank times 75% ( 0.75 ) divided by hardness ( in grains ),
then subtract 75 gallons per person using the water as a reserve.

You set the gallons by lifting the clear portion of the program wheel, and align the white dot with the number of gallons you wish the unit to use prior to initiating a regenerate ( the night following the meter reaching Zero ).

Also the salt setting should be 9 lbs. per cu. ft. of resins ( 32,000 grains ).
You can find this adjustment on the "Brine Cam" gear inside the back of your control head. It is a small halve moon shaped piece that it held on to the Brine Cam with one screw. It has a small pointer which indicates the pounds of salt to be used per regeneration.

If you do not know your resin tank capacity, send us the tank's height and diameter, and we will let you know how much resin is normally used in your size tank. We will also do the rest of the math for you, if provide the hardness & iron levels ( note: most "city" water does not contain iron ). Also, you might need to know that 17.1 ppm of hardness = 1 grain of hardness.

How To Move Program Wheel To Set Gallons:

1 ) The "locking" teeth are under the part that says ( x100 ), so this is the critical area that must lift.
2 ) It is VERY HELPFUL ( maybe NECESSARY ) if you hold the Black Gear "down" while pulling up on the Clear portion.
3 ) Turn the Clear Portion counter clockwise, and Black Gear Clockwise
4 ) Line up "white" dot with the gallon setting you've computed.

Remember to divide the total grains by 0.75 ( 75% ), as that is the true "working" capacity when using 9 lbs. of salt per cu.ft. per regeneration. To achieve maximum capacity requires 16 lbs. of salt per cu.ft. And since almost double the amount of salt is required to get that extra 25% of capacity, it is not recommended ( nor common practice ). One last note: 6 lbs. per cu.ft. is considered the minimum salt dosage, and should never be that low if you have iron in your water. 6 lbs. yields between 50 - 65% of total capacity ( depends on your water's total dissolved solids ), and is not recommended in most cases.

1 comment:

colleen
said...

i really found this site very helpful in resetting my water softener..as the previous mentioned, he had moved in and the softener was not keeping water soft...as i am guessing, we have more people (4) in our house now and the softener was not keeping up. we have the 5600ecominder and have very hard water...washing machine clogs in a day without the softener. generally what should my meter be set to?